29 May 2025
Scatola & Ors v HMRC [2025] UKUT 00156 (TCC)
In the context of transactions that sought to rely on relief from SDLT under s45 and s71A FA 2003, the Upper Tribunal has considered whether HMRC opened valid enquiries and issued assessments within the relevant time limits:
- In relation to the enquiry notices, the Tribunal has confirmed the approach to determining whether or not HMRC have opened a valid enquiry and held that, considering the correspondence in this case, the reasonable taxpayer would have had no doubt that that HMRC were intending to give notices of enquiry into both returns filed by each taxpayer;
- In relation to the discovery assessments, the Tribunal has held that none of the returns were in respect of the notional land transaction under s75A and therefore the 20-year time limit applied to the assessments.
Thomas Chacko acted for the Appellants and Ben Elliott acted for HMRC.
You can find a copy of the judgment here.
This content is provided free of charge for information purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. No responsibility for the accuracy and/or correctness of the information and commentary set out in the article, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed or accepted by any member of PCTC or by PCTC as a whole.
